Vanquish Cycles store manager Anthony Van de Pas speaking about the recent burglary. Video / Mead Norton
A retailer left cleaning up after a burglar smashed his shop window with an axe and stole $16,000 worth of e-bikes says it feels like he is preparing for the "zombie apocalypse".
Vanquish Cycles on Tauranga's Cameron Rd was targeted in an early morning smash and grab on Sunday.
It is the latest in what a Retail NZ boss called a "crime wave" of incidents, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying the crimes were becoming "atrocious" and "totally brazen".
Vanquish Cycles store manager Anthony Van de Pas said CCTV footage captured someone smashing the window of his front door with what appeared to be an axe.
Two electric bikes together worth about $16,000 were stolen and stock was knocked down and scratched, he said.
"There was glass everywhere - and things tipped over and damaged. It was all over the show."
The damaged store front at Vanquish Cycles. Photo / Supplied
Van de Pas said it was the fourth time the family-run business had been targeted since it opened five years ago.
"You feel absolutely gutted. You feel emotionally heartbroken. As a lot of small business owners understand Covid times have made things tricky. To turn around and have your store broken into and stock stolen - just make things emotionally tough."
Van de Pas said reinforcing the storefront windows felt like he was preparing for the "zombie apocalypse".
"We are always looking for ways to keep upping the security. If you were likely to be attacked by zombies, it is pretty much what you feel like you have to do, being a retail outlet right now."
After being hit four times in five years he said bikes were locked up and bollards were installed at his store to prevent ram raids.
"We are not new to it, I do understand bike shops are a common hit store."
Van de Pas said three customers visited the shop on Sunday wanting to view one of the bikes stolen so it was a "sheer inconvenience" it had been taken.
"The bikes that were stolen are both very popular models of bike that people come in almost every day to view. When they are not on your floor to view you have that loss of income because you don't have the product to show them."
Insurance would only cover the damage and stolen bikes "to a small extent", he said.
"Excess and premiums are very expensive being a retail store like ours. Yes, you get some money back, but not enough to cover the damage and loss that's for sure.
"It is a pure inconvenience where you have to drum up the funds from places to put stock back on the floor."
A police spokesperson said police received a report at about 6.20am on Sunday that a property on Cameron Rd had been broken into.
Police were following lines of inquiry including whether CCTV could be of assistance, a spokesperson said.
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley. Photo / Mead Norton
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley said retailers had always faced occasional thefts, but there had been a recent rise in anti-social behaviour and serious damage to property across the country.
"Retailers are certainty on edge, wondering when it is their turn to be woken in the middle of the night by their security company notifying them of a break-in."
Some had reported finding it hard to retain staff if they were regularly being confronted with "aggressive and intimidating" behaviour from shoplifters, he said.
He said costs compounded if a retailer suffered repeated break-ins.
"There are direct costs such as loss of stock, fixing damaged property, disruption to future trading hours while repairs are completed, insurance excess, as well as possible increases to future premiums.
"There are also the indirect costs on retailer well-being and employees, particularly if places are being repeatedly targeted."
Retail New Zealand chief executive Greg Harford said the country was in a "crimewave" with the number of incidents ramping up. His biggest concern was that the seriousness of crime towards retailers was escalating.
Retail New Zealand chief executive Greg Harford. Photo / Supplied
"It is really disconcerting for people who work in these businesses and people who own these businesses. There is a risk someone is going to get hurt - and it is traumatising for everyone.
"It is much more serious, it is much more organised, it is much more aggressive and brazen."
Last week the Bay of Plenty Times reported the region had New Zealand's second-highest number of ram raids in the year to October.
Shop owners targeted by retail thefts have shared the devastation of break-ins, including a minimart owner who sleeps with security footage playing next to his bed after being ram raided, and jewelry store owners who say they have been targeted 30 times in 15 years - many of those recently.
At least six retail stores in Auckland were targeted overnight on Sunday, with thieves making off with alcohol, cigarettes and vape products.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the AM show more than 30 people had been caught and 200 charges laid after the police retail unit targeting ram raids and smash and grabs was established.
Ardern said many of the "atrocious" and "totally brazen" crimes had involved teenagers but there were still consequences for young offenders depending on the individual and crime committed.
"It is fair to say though that if someone is particularly young … efforts are often made to use consequences and punishment that don't necessarily lead to that individual being in facilities that result in their continuing [to offend]...
"Often in cases ... if a young person enters into our formalised criminal justice system that essentially means that's the trajectory that they are on."
